Prestige Ali Aligns Himself With ‘Born Blessed’

Reggae artist Prestige Ally doesn’t believe that there is any such thing as coincidence or good luck. He believes wholly in the concept of ‘blessings’ which he articulates in his latest song, Born Blessed.

“I’ve seen good things happen in my life, and after a while mi reach the conclusion that anno luck, ah blessed me blessed. So this song, ‘Born Blessed’, is a testimony of my life, I have seen blessings move in my life in wondrous ways that must be the hand of God,” he said.

He said one example of his ‘blessings’ was a period when he fell on hard times and had to rent a room from one of his sisters for a year. After a while, he landed a stable potentially lucrative job and then his sister’s daughter flipped out on him. Then, out of the blue, he got a call from an agency through which he had applied for an apartment almost a year before.

“Out of nowhere, dem call and you still want the apartment? I moved in and took out a lot of furniture on credit, and while the men were setting up the furniture, I bought the lottery, using the numbers for the same apartment building I moved into. I won the same day mi get the key…that can’t be coincidence, four numbers in different order 2305. Do it five ways, straight and box. Mi look at the results, mi make a mistake and one of the numbers buy straight, twice, and five times box. Ah US$5,500 mi collect out of nowhere , ah God this,” he said.

Prestige Ally said that the response he has received so far “is the biggest for any song I ever did”.

He is fast-tracking plans to come to Jamaica to shoot a video for the project, released on the Press Star label.

“I have to share the story of God’s blessings with everyone, I have hit rock bottom, my mother abandoned us kids, my father left us behind. I forgave them, found my father in the US, got my papers and filed for all my brothers and sisters. I have lived to see some of them turn their backs on me, but I know my life is blessed, God is with me always,” he said.

Born Ali Higgins in Kingston, Prestige Ally moved to Spanish Town then relocated with his family to Clarendon.

Music became the outlet for him to explore his feelings and emotions. He was inspired by his peers to pursue music and began to perform at community and school events but athletics was his priority during his teen years.

During his high school years at Clarendon College, he distinguished himself as an athlete running the 400 and 800 metres events. Eventually, he went overseas to a meet in Florida in 1989, and stayed in the USA and grabbed the opportunity to better himself.

Years later, he began to pursue music seriously. He generated attention with songs such as a cover of American R&B group Surface’s ‘You Are My Everything’ and Oh Girl by the Chilites. He later changed his name to Prestige Ally and started his own label Prest Star Music.

Among his recordings are Number 1 Girl, Disagreement, and his latest release Anything, a song which he said tackles matters of the heart.

For the past 30 years, he has resided in New York.